Anglers fishing off of Sekiu have had success recently as a run of larger hatchery fish, potentially the first push of springer chinook into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, has dominated the depth finders.
That includes Marysville’s Nick VandenBosch, who hit for the cycle effectively, while fishing for lingcod and rockfish off Neah Bay in Marine Area 4 and for blackmouth chinook off Sekiu in Marine Area 5.
VandenBosch came through on his rockfish limit and brought aboard a 26-pound ling, perfect for ample servings of fish and chips in the coming days and weeks.
But he also landed and released after a keepsake photo a more mysterious creature from the briny depths, a large wolf eel, complete with a set of razor-sharp teeth and a face only a mother could love.
Wolf eels are a misunderstood creature ranging the depths of the North Pacific Ocean all the way from the Sea of Ohthosk off Russia’s Far Eastern coast to southern California. Although they look similar and move through the water in a wavy manner like eels, wolf eels aren’t even an eel at all, but a member of the wolffish family, closely related to sculpins. Species in this family are also known as sea wolves, Atlantic catfish, ocean catfish, devil fish and maybe my favorite, sea cat.
Retention of the fish is closed statewide, although populations are thought to be robust.
It is believed that wolf eels mate for life, and those lives are long lasting judging by the length of time it takes for the species to reach maturity.
A mating pair will occupy the same den year after year and possibly their entire lives unless they are forced out by a larger wolf-eel or a Giant Pacific Octopus.
They begin pairing up at 4 years old and reproduce at around 7.
As many as 10,000 eggs are laid in the den, which is guarded by both mom and dad. And when hatched, larvae take their sweet time to grow, drifting around the upper water column for as long as two years.
The powerful jaws include canine and molar teeth, unlike most fish, allowing wolf eels to crush their preferred food of hard-shelled animals such as crabs, snails, sea urchins, mussels and some fish.
But despite their viscious look, wolf eels generally have the complete opposite temperament.
There’s always something interesting to discover in the salt water, and VandenBosch landed two good-size chinook to cap the adventure.
New licenses needed
With the calendar now flipped to April, anglers and harvesters need to secure new recreational fishing and shellfish licenses for the 2022-23 seasons.
For more information, visit wdfw.wa.gov/licenses.
Morning tide digs
A series of razor clam digs on the morning low tide are open through Wednesday.
Digging is allowed during low tide from 12 a.m. through 11:59 a.m. only:
• Saturday 8:07 a.m.; 0.0 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis.
• Sunday, 8:45 a.m.; -0.1 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks.
• Monday, 9:23 a.m.; 0.0 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis.
• Tuesday, 10:01 a.m.; +0.2 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks.
• Wednesday, 10:43 a.m.; +0.5 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis.
The seven days of digging in mid-March generated near limits of clams on all four open beaches. An estimated 27,533 diggers took home 388,655 razor clams for an average of 14.1 razor clams per digger.
Marysville angler Nick VandenBosch caught these blackmouth chinook while fishing off Sekiu over the weekend. Reports indicated larger, hatchery fish being caught over the last week.
